Surgent Studios is looking for funding for this new project.

Surgent Studios’ next project is Project Uso, an Afro-Gothic RPG

Tales of Kenzera: Zau developer Surgent Studios told VGC that it is working on a game that it calls an Afro-Gothic RPG. It’s inspired by games like Planescape: Torment.

The company also said it is looking for a funding partner for the game. Studio head Abubakar Salim, an actor in House of the Dragon who is also the creative head behind Tales of Kenzera: Zau, has a pitch deck for the game. That title was a game about grief, as Salim was grieving for his own father, and he infused a similar backstory into the character Zau. I played a part of the game and GamesBeat’s Mike Minotti played a lot more and we both enjoyed it.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks. 

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.